Strictly Come Dancing champion and TV documentary maker Stacey Dooley has been slammed by Labour MP David Lammy , who has criticised her for her trip to Uganda for Comic Relief.

The 31-year-old investigative reporter had travelled to Africa to film a documentary for the charity but the MP for Tottenham has accused Stacey of perpetuating "tired and unhelpful stereotypes".

Stacey had shared pictures on her social media from Uganda, with one snap showing her posing with a young child while another showed her during filming ahead of Red Nose Day.

Mr Lammy, who has been the MP for the north London borough since 2010, said on Twitter that Stacey was reinforcing unhelpful stereotypes about Africa.

Some followers have accused Stacey of exhibiting a 'white saviour complex' (Image: Instagram)

He said: "The world does not need any more white saviours. As I've said before, this just perpetuates tired and unhelpful stereotypes.

"Let's instead promote voices from across the continent of Africa and have serious debate."

Mr Lammy said his issue was not personal with Stacey and that he does not question her "good motives".

Stacey is well known for her documentary work which has taken her to locations all over the world (Image: Instagram)

Instead, he said he had a problem with 'British celebrities' being flown out to Africa by Comic Relief to make films which send "a distorted image" of the continent and perpetuate "an old idea from the colonial era".

Stacey has hit back at the MP and invited Mr Lammy to travel to Africa himself.

She said: "David, is the issue with me being white? (Genuine question) ...because if that's the case, you could always go over there and try raise awareness?

"Comic relief have raised over 1 billion pounds since they started. I saw projects that were saving lives with the money. Kids lives."

Stacey was filming in Uganda for Comic Relief 2019 (Image: Instagram)

Mr Lammy, who is of Guyanese descent, said "many black" Britons are "deeply uncomfortable" with Comic Relief's "poverty porn".

He said: "Comic Relief has a huge platform and privilege and it is the first and major way children learn about Africa.

"If they only show Africans as helpless victims to be pitied, children miss the broader picture of huge progress in Africa.

Stacey has been slammed by Tottenham's MP (Image: Phil Lewis/WENN.com)

"Comic Relief should be helping to establish an image of African people as equals to be respected rather than helpless victims to be pitied.

"It would therefore be better for people who actually live there to speak about the continent they know.

This is not the first time Comic Relief has been accused of perpetuating the white saviour trope. In March last year the charity said celebrities would take a backseat on on-location appeals following complaints about "poverty tourism".

Ed Sheeran had previously been criticised for reinforcing white saviour stereotypes during a visit to Liberia.